LDRD final report: Automated planning and programming of assembly of fully 3D mechanisms

Abstract

This report describes the results of assembly planning research under the LDRD. The assembly planning problem is that of finding a sequence of assembly operations, starting from individual parts, that will result in complete assembly of a device specified as a CAD model. The automated assembly programming problem is that of automatically producing a robot program that will carry out a given assembly sequence. Given solutions to both of these problems, it is possible to automatically program a robot to assemble a mechanical device given as a CAD data file. This report describes the current state of our solutions to both of these problems, and a software system called Archimedes 2 we have constructed to automate these solutions. Because Archimedes 2 can input CAD data in several standard formats, we have been able to test it on a number of industrial assembly models more complex than any before attempted by automated assembly planning systems, some having over 100 parts. A complete path from a CAD model to an automatically generated robot program for assembling the device represented by the CAD model has also been demonstrated.